IMO both but although I can think of a large number of reasons I can't point at one or two alone. Having sold my buggy and stepped down from running Clubs/competitions my involvement is greatly reduced.__________________________________Poking the Grim Reaper with a stick then running away. The devil made me do it but God said it was okay with him.

I'm not adding much myself. Still putting hours and hours of work into my truck, but it's repair work so not post worthy? Nothing for folk to 'get into'. My 'winch and drive' performance dropping off because the hyd pump has wear isn't very exciting Unless you paid the bill __________________________________https://m.youtube.com/channel/UC3l3zoaCabKrgBSULSV1YgA

New stuff is boring, nothing goes wrong (why should it?) Since playing silly buggers with her SAAB several years ago (wrote of the SAAB, my Disco, and a Transit type van, from a standing start) my SWMBO has been driving two new KIAS and a new Hyundai ... drive out of showroom, drive back in 12 months later. Nothing happens in between. Boring! At least my Peugeot 306 broke a wiper blade.

My 1959 Land Rover rebuild project is keeping me sane.

602__________________________________Don't force it, use a bigger hammer, cos if it doesn't fit, the hammer is not big enough.

Personally I spend more time in work actually working and less time on the interweb and during my "free" time I have more than enough real life things to fill my time but I still try to spend a bit of time in here and help with techncial advice (and banter) where I can__________________________________Bert the Defender 110 XS - because it's Cool (work it out yourself!)
Lolita the Lightweight
???? the V8 90 CSW
Suzuki DL1000 V-Strom - yes that's right, I have a Zook!

I'm one of those who's sold up. My 110 is reliable enough and my interests are cleaner now - I'd love to more challenges and competitions but at £25k for a decent buggy and £1000 per competition .......__________________________________Poking the Grim Reaper with a stick then running away. The devil made me do it but God said it was okay with him.

Yeah I know it's a tough world..... I used to love the oshi mooch posts. Seeing stuff evolved from standard to modded no matter what it is technical advise at the drop of a post.... And it's all going or gone

Even the show scene is dead I just did landy live with Colin (team chaos) and it was real tough to get interest from punters most of the
ttraders struggled to cover fuel and pitch costs,

Could it be.... Dare I say it..... Off roading is a declining sport :-S__________________________________X-RATED 4x4 systems

Could it be.... Dare I say it..... Off roading is a declining sport :-S

I think not, off-roading in the uk is more static - neither declining nor growing i.e. for every one who gives it up someone steps in to replace them and even then the sport takes second or third place to holidays, birthdays and christmas.

Dates should play an important part for show organisers - shows at the end of/beginning of a month will generate more interest and income that those in the middle of a month - why? - just ask ourself when you get paid

Traders at a show.... is it advertising or selling? I'd go with advertising - the same as advertising in a magazine - showing the punter that you do exist in real life, if you sell at a show I'd call that the icing.

Personally I haven't been off-roading since my roll 2 years ago, my truck is still sitting in my garage with a rolled body on it - a replacement body is sitting in another garage waiting for some welding and respray, and this is for a lack of time not a lack of money - I'd love to get it back together again and start using it I'm in almost a drool state every time I start it up....

I look in every day, read the posts but maybe normally don't post. as what I have to post is not worth posting.

have been working a lot over last 12 months, 2 jobs, work most week days every fri and sat night so when sunday, or a day off or even the evenings, do come around I try and do the bits that need to be done, like today I will be fitting the dash trim kit to the disco and probably some bits one the gsx600 I am over hauling.

but in saying that a lot of the stuff I have been doing on the disco is fixing standard stuff or swapping broken bits for standard stuff.

have a full suspension bolt set ready to go in along with full suspension bushes and springs, shocks and retainer plates, and it should be happening on the 26th of this month if all goes to plan.__________________________________currently breaking 1994 vitara...now broken and gone to the great scrap yard in the sky hahaha

Like fatboy, I look in every day, but I don't need to fill the world with asinine comments.

My landrover went to the carpark in the sky nearly three years ago. I keep promising myself I'll buy another, but I quite like not having to repair it every week.

I suppose I aught to go over to the VW forums, but they are imterested in polishing, which frankly is boring..__________________________________Please Note: Some quantum physics theories suggest that when Simon is not directly observed, he may cease to exist or will exist only in a vague and undetermined state.

The off road competition world is alive and well although smaller than it was. We ran The Scotia Winch Challenge the other week, as normal, with 33 entries including a lot of new faces all of whom want instant updates on facebook.

The consensus is that people have very limited funds, not surprising considering a basic low-line competition winch is ~£1200 these days, and are very choosy about which competition the do. This can be extended to normal 4x4 activities. In 10 years we have gone from most people having mud terrain tyres and slightly taller springs as the sum total of their external off road prep to running heavily modified vehicles with £000s of equipment.

Given that we can't go backwards, it strikes me that most of us have taken 4x4s as far as they can go without doing the really silly/huge stuff like overland trips and serious adventures. Once you've got to that level then you either stick there or move on to the next obsession.

It is neither good nor bad, it is simply the way of things.__________________________________Poking the Grim Reaper with a stick then running away. The devil made me do it but God said it was okay with him.

No more ironic than any of the previous times the subject has come up.

Development of modifications has slowed, newer 4x4s do lend themselves to proper off road modification at an affordable price and we are increasingly legislated against on BOATS, and other Rights of Way and pay & play sites. Competitions are [almost] all struggling for entrants and many have simply disappeared.

Frankly I've seen nothing new and affordable for years. For all one might slag off Landrover the 4x4 'scene' in the UK has largely been driven by Defender ownership and with production ending next year it is obviously a dwindling marketplace for modification and an increasing one for restoration/conservation. Few of the Jap 4x4s have the same cache nor the same facility for inexpensive modification and none of them have the same type of following. They are regarded almost as throwaway off roaders by the time they are old enough to be ragged around a PnP site and are very unlikely to be restored.

It is natural for things to develop, blossom and then fade__________________________________Poking the Grim Reaper with a stick then running away. The devil made me do it but God said it was okay with him.

No more ironic than any of the previous times the subject has come up.

Development of modifications has slowed, newer 4x4s do lend themselves to proper off road modification at an affordable price and we are increasingly legislated against on BOATS, and other Rights of Way and pay & play sites. Competitions are [almost] all struggling for entrants and many have simply disappeared.

Frankly I've seen nothing new and affordable for years. For all one might slag off Landrover the 4x4 'scene' in the UK has largely been driven by Defender ownership and with production ending next year it is obviously a dwindling marketplace for modification and an increasing one for restoration/conservation. Few of the Jap 4x4s have the same cache nor the same facility for inexpensive modification and none of them have the same type of following. They are regarded almost as throwaway off roaders by the time they are old enough to be ragged around a PnP site and are very unlikely to be restored.

It is natural for things to develop, blossom and then fade

Forgive me if I seem to be reading this wrong Richard but you seem to be saying that once Defender production ends off-road competition ends as well?

I feel certain that there are many people that think the Defender is not the be-all and end-all of off-road competition, and, if you looked closely at many of the competition leaders you'll find that their Defenders have more Jap or Yank parts on them than Solihull.

The UK is currently experiencing a lull in off-roading... the rest of the world isn't!

if i remember correctly, it was me that was accused of putting it there.

yet i haven't been here

and its still there.....

it was quoted that difflock was bigger than one person.

but which person was that quote aimed at?

i dont believe forums are dying, one alternative fuels site im a member of has more posts per day than difflock has per week. and noone gets told to use the search function.

i know one of the mods on jeep club and they are happily bobbing along.

not everywhere is quiet

makes you wonder.

as for defenders driving the 4x4 scene, again i disagree.

the defender has traditionally been the reserve of those with a bit of money behind them. now that your average drug dealer and his mates have found them, the trend continues. sure, parts are cheap, but the vehicle is grossly overpriced for the spec level. only those with a bit of money, no taste and a blinkered approach as to lawnmowers still revere them. the tell tale line there is " it is obviously a dwindling marketplace for modification and an increasing one for restoration/conservation" which means get your wallet out, im going to grossly overcharge you for the privilege of conserving an inherently flawed vehicle.

at grass roots level, the SJ has done more for entry level, cheap offroading than anything.

but they are up against the flawed snobbery of the hairy shirt brigade.

this line"Few of the Jap 4x4s have the same cache" is a killer. does that translate to "lets look down our nose at the better equipped, comfier more refined and very capable piece of jap crap coz it isnt a lawnmower"?

so, buy following your logic to a natural conclusion, when the defender ends, so will offroading, and so will the need for forums discussing offroading and selling parts for offroading.

You cannot post new topics in this forumYou cannot reply to topics in this forumYou cannot edit your posts in this forumYou cannot delete your posts in this forumYou cannot vote in polls in this forumYou cannot post calendar events in this forum